Veterans Affairs Ending Commissionaires’ $330M Federal Contracting Right

The largest private sector employer of veterans in Canada is calling on the Liberal government to rescind its decision to end a federal contracting entitlement which grants first dibs on federal security guard contracts.

The Canadian Corps of Commissionaires is taking the federal government to court over the loss of its contracting entitlement, claiming it is at risk of losing some $330 million a year in revenue.

Michel Charron, CEO of the Commissionaires Ottawa division, said he was “surprised” and “disappointed” when he received notice out of the blue that Ottawa will terminate his firm’s first right of refusal.

“We don’t know why the government decided to cancel the right,” Charron told The Canadian Press.

“They didn’t give us any reasons, other than to say that (Veterans Affairs) wanted to reassess the right of first refusal to determine the continued relevance of it within today’s veteran employment landscape.”

Veterans Affairs Minister Jill McKnight warned the organization in a letter earlier this year the 80-year-old contracting right will end in April 2027, giving the Commissionaires a one-year grace period to “ensure a smooth and measured transition to a competitive procurement process.”

“The government is confident that the Corps’ deep expertise and long history in delivering guard services will position your organization for continued success in this new procurement environment,” McKnight’s Feb. 27 letter said.

Charron said he hasn’t been able to secure a meeting with McKnight to protest the decision. McKnight’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Canadian Press.

The Commissionaires’ court filing notes federal lobby records show senior government officials have been taking meetings with the private security company Garda since the fall about procuring security guards.

Charron said while federal contracts represent a “fair percentage of our annual revenues,” his organization was “built on delivering on a social mandate” to provide meaningful employment to veterans and their families.

Canada’s only national not-for-profit security company has enjoyed the legal contracting right since the Second World War—a measure put in place to secure employment opportunities for Canadian veterans.

The Commissionaires employs some 3,500 veterans out of its 20,000 employees. The federal contracting right provides employment to about 8,000 people, roughly a quarter of them veterans.

The firm also contributes philanthropically to veterans’ programming and non-profits such as Soldier On, Perley Health and the Pepper Pod.

Conservative veterans affairs critic Blake Richards said if the Liberals do ultimately end the contracting right, they must “ensure a system is put in place which prioritizes businesses and organizations that focus on hiring veterans.”

A briefing document prepared for McKnight when she took on the portfolio last year said the contracting policy includes a requirement that a minimum of 60 percent of the hours worked under a contract must be done by veterans. It said the firm has consistently failed to meet that benchmark.

“Data provided by the Corps has shown that they have not been able to meet the 60 percent target for over ten years,” the briefing document said.

“The percentage of Veterans employed by the Corps has been decreasing over time,” the briefing document stated. The data was redacted from the document.

According to the court filing, about 25 to 30 percent of the hours under these contracts are worked by veterans.

The court documents said several factors, including government-prescribed wage levels and the declining number of veterans, have rendered the Commissionaires unable to meet the hours benchmark since the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

They also said the organization told the government it needed to secure contracts with higher guard wages to attract more veterans.

The 60 percent target has existed since 2006, when the firm opened its doors to non-veterans due to a dramatic surge in demand for guard services after the September 2001 terror attacks.

Charron said veterans are spread out across the country and his organization must sometimes hire non-veterans for work in certain locations.

Veterans Affairs has never imposed any consequences for missing the target, Charron said.

The court filing said that in 2025, Paul Ledwell, then-deputy minister of Veterans Affairs, suggested in a meeting that the department and the Commissionaires could renew the policy with alternative measures replacing the targets.